Healthwatch report highlights there is more to be done to ensure everyone in Nottinghamshire receives respectful care

Healthwatch Nottingham and Healthwatch Nottinghamshire have published a report as part of a project looking into experiences from members of the LGBT community who use health and care services.

The report, which is made up of 76 responses from people across Nottinghamshire, highlights there is more to be done to ensure everyone in Nottinghamshire receives respectful care with over a third of people commenting that their experiences of health care services had been affected by sexual orientation and/or gender reassignment.

As part of the project people were asked to share with what impact their experiences of health care services had on them. Of the 31 negative experiences, almost 2 in 5 people felt that it had a negative impact on them with 26% identifying specifically how this impacted on their emotional health, with many left feeling anger and despair.

Michelle Livingston – Healthwatch Nottinghamshire Executive Chair

“This is a significant problem, an individual’s LGBT status should not be relevant to their experience. It would appear that many of the negative comments recorded could be addressed by a different approach and attitude. The data collected for this report shows that both negative and positive experiences can have a significant and long term impact, not only on the way that a particular service, and other health services are perceived and accessed, but also personally on the individual.”

Healthwatch will be working with providers and commissioners to ensure that the experiences which have been shared as part of this project are noted and addressed.